


The Long Way Around

by zymogen



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M, I have no idea what I'm doing, Mention of Date Rape Drug/Roofies, Nameless Female, Pre-Iron Man 1, Slow Burn, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Is Loved, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony Stark was a wild college student and no one will change my mind, Unreliable Narrator, Young Adult Tony Stark, i'll add more tags as i go on
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-13
Updated: 2019-05-07
Packaged: 2019-09-17 18:46:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16979829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zymogen/pseuds/zymogen
Summary: Life doesn't have shortcuts. Especially when it comes to her.





	1. In Which Tony Stark Calls her a Legume

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! This little story came from a challenge to see how long of a story I can make with a nameless protagonist. Thanks for reading :)
> 
> Edit: Made some formatting changes and added a date.

_Spring 1990_

“Scholarship Student Seduces Stark’s Son!” read Catherine, clutching the tabloid magazine in her hands. She gestured wildly at the headline, jabbing her finger at the paparazzi photo of Tony Stark, son to the infamous CEO of Stark Industries, walking into his apartment with her friend in his arms.  “Have you seen this?

Said scholarship student looked up from mopping the floor and gestured impatiently at Catherine. Wordlessly, Catherine passed the tabloid over and waited for her friend to finish. “They were selling like hotcakes at the student lounge. I only managed to get one because of my connections.”

“You mean the guy you slept with?”

Catherine ignored her and continued, “Anyway, everyone was talking about it. I even saw Prof. Spensor with a copy in the teacher’s lounge. The one with the balding head—” Catherine looked up for confirmation and continued. “Anyway, I thought you should know right away.”

“Couldn’t you have waited until after my shift was over?”

“It is important!” Catherine emphasized. “Have you finished?”

“Yup,” her friend handed her back the tabloid.

“Well?”

“Too much alliteration,” her friend said, going back to her job.  “Are journalists in short supply nowadays?”

Catherine groaned, completely missing the sarcasm. “Is that all you can say about this?” Catherine loved her friend very much, but she was so uninterested in important things such as this. For someone who was so smart, her friend could be quite dumb about reputation and the intrincies of socializing.  She hopped onto a table, sitting to avoid her friend’s vigorous mop. It was probably best to jut spell it out for her. “Now everyone’s going to think that you slept with him!”

“But I have.”

“And what if—wait YOU HAVE?” A couple eating their lunch on the right glared at them. The two girls ignored them.

Her friend huffed, leaning her mop against the booth. She clearly didn’t see the severity of the information Catherine just gave her! That poor, innocent child! “Yes! But I don’t see what the big deal is. _You_ slept with him.”

Catherine sputtered, “That—what—how DARE you! My best friend. Blackmailing me.”

“Oh please,” She rolled her eyes, “It’s not blackmailing if every hetero girl on campus had been invited over to Tony Stark’s luxury apartment. I just happen to get caught banging him.” 

Catherine gasped, “But you’re different!”

She sighed, placing her hands on her hips, “How _exactly_ is this situation any different?”

“You’re actually his friend,” Catherine pointed out.

Her friend snorted, “He’s my TA.”

“He lets you work on projects,” Catherine retaliated. “He doesn’t let ANYONE work on his projects.” She should know. Last time she wanted to ask him for research, he didn’t answer any of her attempts to contact him. She had to hound on Rhodey to get Tony to talk to her, and he just nonchalantly said he wasn’t taking any student researchers and kicked her out of his lab.

“Really?” her friend said, “Well maybe he’d let me do more work now that I managed to give it up.” At her friend’s speechless sputtering, she turned around to grab a washcloth. “Now if you can just excuse me. I have 15 more minutes until I clock out and I can’t get fired for not working.”

Catherine signed, shaking her head, “How can you be so calm about this? You’re basically being outed to the entire world that you slept with Tony Stark! Wait—” Her eyes widened as another horrifying thought came into her head. “Are you—is this even legal?”

“I’m _nineteen_.”

“Wait really?”

“ _Yes._ And look, it’s not like I’m special or anything,” she said, smiling indulgently at the worry on her friend’s face. She knew Catherine meant well, but she felt the girl was worrying over nothing. “You know Stark has a girl in his apartment every other day. The tabloids will find another girl to prey on soon enough. In the meantime, I just need to lay low and do what I have always done.”

“Besides,” she said, going back to wiping down tables. “Who’s going to noticed that I’m that girl in the photograph anyway?”

\-------

 _Facial recognition tech has really advanced_ She thought, as she faced down 5 members of the college’s student disciplinary board. She felt very undressed and rubbed the frayed fabric of her green apron reading RUBIO’s ITALIAN RESTAURANT in big block letters. She had been summoned to school as soon as her shift ended and only managed to fix her pony tail to something that looked almost decent before rushing to school. Imagine her surprise when she was told that the disciplinary board was waiting for her and she was ushered into a dark room like some heroine in a spy thriller.

It didn’t help that she had no idea what she was in for. She was a bit nervous, sure, but really she had done nothing wrong that would require a visit to the disciplinary board. She was a 4.0 GPA student, secretary of the Pre-Med Club and spent most of her afternoons in her part-time job. That nervousness changed to an almost sardonic panic as she realized the topic of the discussion.

I _need to listen to Catherine more_ she thought to herself as the board began to speak to her. She should have been paying attention, but the roaring in her ears made it difficult to hear what they were saying. Even so, she had the general gist of the situation that was presented to her and the only thing she could feel was a cold dread.

“And based on these accusations, we have decided to rescind your scholarship.”

It was worse than she imagined. Her stomach dropped as her mind processed what she heard. Rescind her scholarship?  This was the stuff of nightmares; scenes that played in her head during freshman year when she still felt that she didn’t belong in a big university such as this. But her nightmares usually centered around failing a class or waking up late for a final and being kicked out of the university in the process. The impostor syndrome never left her, but the nightmares had eased once she got along with Catherine.

But this was the real world. And she wasn’t being reprimanded because of her grades but because of _Tony_ _Stark_. “But-sir, ma’am!”

“Based on your previous exemplary grades, we have deliberated that you will be still allowed to pursue your education at this university,” said the president of the board, looking down at her from the table.

Did they truly understand what they were doing to her? To her future? This was probably just a prophylaxis measure, she bitterly thought. You had to get rid of the virus before it spread right? She shook her head. She was probably a bacteria to them. A single cellular organism that was merely an annoyance. They were so kind to her before but why now? Why like this?

Maybe they didn’t understand. They were condemning her to a jail sentence. She had to make them understand. “Sir, I can’t afford the tuition without the scholarship.” _You’re essentially throwing me out of the university_ was the unspoken sentence.

“Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do about that. Maybe you should have thought about this before you engaged in such activities, Miss.”

She didn’t do anything wrong! They were being unfair! People slept with other people all the time! Sure Tony was technically her TA but he was only one year older than her and he slept with other girls in class! Why was this happening to her? She bit her tongue from saying anything rash. “Sir, in all due respect, I don’t believe my actions warrant such—”

“YOU ARE TARNISHING THIS UNIVERSITY’S REPUTATION!” the director shouted, “Frankly, you should be grateful for still being in this school. Such disrespect is unbecoming, young lady.”

She took a step back, tears filling her eyes uncontrollably. She swallowed, trying to keep it together to make the board _see._ People weren’t this mean in real life. They just didn’t understand.  “Sir, I—I need to study here. This is my only option for a higher education. I-I want to become a physician. To _help_ people.” She pleaded into the solemn faces of the board. She whispered, “ _Please_.”

“The decision is final. We shall give you to the end of the semester to pay next years tuition. If you cannot find sufficient funding,” the director warned, “I suggest you find a different career path, young lady.”

She was dismissed without another word.

There were, as it turns out, people in this world who truly did not care about others.

\-------

It took her 3 days to stop crying. Another 2 days to have enough energy to get out of bed. A week after a metaphorical guillotine was dropped onto her head, she dragged herself to her desk in her dorm and made A Plan.  She knew she couldn’t possibly find enough money to pay tuition by the end of the semester, so she dusted off her old resume in the deep corners of her laptop and polished it with recent projects she had done in the recent year. Then she applied for a gap year, stating her reasons and sent it into the abyss without a second thought.

She showered. She vacuumed the dorm. Her roommate, Michelle, apparently didn’t even realize that she had been missing all her classes. And that was fine by her. It wasn’t as if she wanted the whole school to realize she was essentially sent to the shadow realm. She did call Catherine though and updated her on what happened. And like a good friend she is, she came practically running to her dorm with a tray of brownies in her arms.

“What are you going to do now?” Catherine finally asked, after the two sat in silence for a full 10 minutes.

She placed the brownie on her plate, “Well, I’m—I’m applying for a gap year. I’d figured if I take on a couple of jobs and cut down my expenses, I’ll manage to make enough for another year.“

“And the next?”

She sighed. “One step at a time right?”

Catherine made a noise that sounded like she was holding herself back from saying anything. Instead she tentatively asked, “And Tony?”

The look on her face was all it took for Catherine to drop the subject. The two ate in silence before she announced that she had work to do. Catherine wished her good luck and offered her couch if she needed it. She thanked her and promised to give Catherine her address once she found a cheaper place to live.

And so, Step 1 of the Plan was completed without a hitch.

Step 2 took a bit more wrangling on her part.

“No,” the shopkeeper said without even looking at the resume. She couldn’t even remember how many rejections she had gotten so far and she was getting desperate. After all the biology internships she applied for rejected her on account of “inexperience” she was forced to look for part-time jobs around the low-income neighborhood she eventually moved into. It was a little ways off campus, but it was the only place she could afford. And even then, she had to move in with a roommate who she was sure was a drug dealer of some kind, but really she couldn’t afford to choose at this point.

“You didn’t even _look_!” she cried, gesturing at the paper in her hand. “Come on sir, I need this job.”

The shopkeeper gave her a stern look, which quickly changed into a serene smile at a customer behind her. “How can I help you?”

Undeterred, she faced the middle aged Asian man and said, “Mr. Sung, the sign outside your door says that you are looking for a new hire. And I’ve seen that sign for weeks now meaning that no one’s applied yet!” There were angry buzzing behind her as the line of customers grew. She ignored them. ”You need help don’t you?”

“Yes” said Mr. Sung, giving the order of a brownie to the customer and waving goodbye. “But not you.”

“Why _not_?”

“Sign says must speak Korean,” he said.

“I’ll _learn_!”

Mr. Sung scoffed, before smiling widely at the next customer. “Yes we have donuts! Which kind?” He placed the pastries into a box just as the shop’s door chimed. “Welcome to Sung’s Desserts! How may I—Oh son! How was your test today?”

She crossed her arms impatiently as a boy, probably still in high school, sheepishly placed his hands in his pockets. Even _she_ could tell that he was acting suspicious and she didn’t even know the boy. “Hi dad. How’s the shop today?”

Mr. Sung looked at him sternly, “Daniel. Did you fail your biology test?”

The boy, Daniel, sighed and fished out a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket. He gave it to his dad and winced as Mr. Sung began to read. “DANIEL!”

“I’m so sorry!” Daniel yelled out quickly, offering rapid fire excuses at his dad while Mr. Sung abandoned what he was doing and started reprimanding his son. Many of the customers bolted, and even one grad student that was working in the corner of the coffee shop packed his stuff and left murmuring “not again.”

Apparently this was a frequent occurrence.

It wasn’t really any of _her_ business, but she picked up the abandoned exam on the countertop as Mr. Sung yelled at his son about dishonoring the family and read through the questions. They were pretty straight forward and the kid’s answers weren’t completely off the mark. He just needed some guidance—

A plan was slowly forming in her head. She smiled widely and quickly turned to the family.

“Do you even _want_ to go into college Daniel? I am here working until my knees are cracking to get you to your goals. Do you know your mother had to go to the chiropractor yesterday? And don’t get me started on—”

“Um, not to be rude and everything. But I could teach Daniel.”

The two stopped their argument abruptly and turned to her. It seems like they had forgotten she was there and Mr. Sung cleared his throat before saying, “What?”

“I can teach Daniel,” she repeated, pointing to the big fat D- on the exam. “For a reasonable sum, of course.”

“Ha!” Mr. Sung said, “And why should I pay you?”

Wordlessly, she gave Mr. Sung her resume again and pointed at her high school and college GPA, her major and finally her university at the top of the page. Each time her finger moved, Mr. Sung’s eyes bulged further making him seem more and more like a frog. He blinked at the page as if not quite sure if he was hallucinating or not.

“So—tutoring?”

“You start tomorrow.”

\-------

So with a part time job firmly established, she was feeling kind of optimistic that her plan was on track.  And just like any time she thought things were finally going her way, the universe decided to throw her into the fire because one month after receiving her job, she answered her door to her apartment only to find Tony Stark leaning against the old stucco wall, looking as if she had never left him.

               “Hi Peanut.”

              


	2. In Which there are Things Left Unsaid

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for your support!

There was something _different_ about Tony that she couldn’t quite put a finger on. It wasn’t one specific reason but an accumulation of little things—like the fact that Tony pulled her into his very red, probably very expensive car in a way that seemed almost familiar despite never doing it before. Or maybe it was the fact that the boy wanted to eat lunch at a nearby café that he wouldn’t have been caught being in. Last time she had asked if he wanted lunch at a nearby Indian restaurant, he refused to even enter it, citing that he only ate at restaurants with at least 4 Michelin stars.  She stopped offering to pick up his lunch again, and instead brought the most delicious-smelling Chinese takeout to the lab whenever she knew Tony was hungry.

It was petty, she had to admit, but it was totally worth seeing him squirm.

But the most shocking difference was that Tony didn’t flirt with the pretty looking waitress, who was clearly flirting with him. In fact, it almost seemed like he didn’t notice the waitress, and instead was staring at her intensely.

“You’re staring.”

“You are too,” she pointed out, wiping the perspiration collecting on her glass of ice tea. It was hard to look at Tony in the eye, especially when he was staring at her like _that_.

“Touché,” Tony said, looking at her almost fondly. Which was strange on its own, because she didn’t know why Tony would look fondly at her. It wasn’t as if they were particularly close. He was her TA and lab advisor, and she was just a noisy pre-med that took an engineering class on a whim. It wasn’t the closest or longest relationship despite what the papers were saying.  “You know, it was relatively easier than I thought to find you.”

“How _did_ you find me,” she asked, crossing her arms. “I didn’t tell anyone where I was living. Not even Catherine! And I don’t even have a telephone” She sighed, leaning against her seat. “There’s literally no way for you track me. And trust me—” Her face darkened, remembering the last time someone tracked her down with technology. “I researched heavily on it.”

Tony looked highly amused. She scowled, “You look like you know something I don’t know. AND you’re dying to tell me.”

Tony raised his hands in defense, “Now, now, princess. Keep those claws down.” Seeing her scowl again, Tony laughed, “It doesn’t really matter _how_ I did it, just that I did.”

She shook her head. It was typical of Tony to answer her questions with remarks like this. Even when she wasn’t in his class, she knew through the rumors that he was the least helpful TA on campus. “You’re horrible.”

“I’m a genius,” Tony pointed out.

“A genius at being a pain in the ass,” she muttered, picking up her fork and stabbing her salad. “Now _Stark_ ,” she emphasized his last name, feeling a tad annoyed.  “tell me what you want so that I can get out of here. I’m a busy person you know.” She swallowed her salad before continuing, “Not everyone has time to party every night.”

She felt guilty as soon as the words came out of her mouth. She put her fork down, intending to apologize, “Tony—”

Tony shook his head, silencing her. “No, you’re right. Partying and all that—a waste of time, if you ask me. I’m not doing those anymore.” His mouth set into a grim line.

She hesitated, not wanting to bring up a sore subject. She didn’t want to be rude by prying into his business, but still she didn’t want any awkward feelings between them. She asked, “Is it because of last time?”

Tony looked up, startled, “Last time?” He looked confused, as if he didn’t know what she was talking about. Which was strange because _of course_ he would know.

“Yes, 3 months ago?”

“Oh, yes. That,” Tony’s eyebrows wrinkled in thought. “I didn’t even know that you got kicked out of that awful school until years later.”

“Years?”

Tony waved his hands, “Weeks. I mean weeks. Slip of tongue.” He smiled with teeth, looking completely innocent, which she didn’t buy for a second. “So—last time. My question to you is why.”

“Why what, Tony?”

“Why—“ he asked, leaning closer from across the table. “Why did you do it?”

_“Why did you do it?” Tony slurred, barely keeping himself conscious. His body felt like deadweight as she tried to drag him up the stairs to his apartment. She was trying to hold him in a way that looked inconspicuous, but he was half her size and she wasn’t the most athletic of persons. Her heels caught against the cobblestones, causing her to trip._

_“Be careful—” Tony placed a hand on her lower back as if he could have stopped her falling. She snorted as she righted herself back up._

_“You’re one to talk,” she replied, carefully going up the stairs. “You need to take care of yourself, TA. Didn’t your parents teach you not to take drinks from strangers?”_

_Tony smiled dopily, “But she was pretty!” He hiccupped “And she had a great rack. Her name was—something something Mel –or was it Maria? It’s hard to remember!”_

_She rolled her eyes, ”That’s not surprising considering you don’t even know my name.”_

_“Of course I do!” he shouted, voice a tad louder than necessary. “It’s—It’s.”_

_She laughed at Tony’s confused expression. It strange seeing such a cute expression on a man that leaked charm from his pores. “Don’t hurt yourself, Tony,” She teased. “And please for the love of computers, don’t get roofied again. You can’t let yourself get taken advantage like that. You’re worth more than that.”_

_Tony stared up at her, more confused than before, “No one—has ever said that to me before.”_

_She felt a pang of pity in her chest but she brushed it off and smiled. She doubted Tony would be happy knowing that she had felt sorry for him, even if he probably wouldn’t remember this in the morning. “Right, well in any case, I got you to your apartment. I don’t know why you don’t want to go to the hospital Tony.”_

_“No hospitals!” he shouted, eyes wide and delirious. There was sweat beading in his forehead and his pupils were blown. She wasn’t a doctor yet, but even she could tell that he needed some major help. “Don’t tell anyone!”_

_“Are you sure?” she asked, wondering why he didn’t want anyone to know. “Look if it’s your pride—”_

_“Promise me, Peanut,” he said, grabbing her hands sloppily. She stared at their conjoined hands in confusion. “Don’t tell anyone.”_

_She swallowed nervously. It was against her judgement but the way Tony looked at her made her concede. “I—I promise Tony.”_

“Well?” Tony asked impatiently, a fry halfway to his mouth. “Are you going to ask my question?”

“I—” she stared at his hands, remembering and feeling suddenly sad. She shook her head, willing the memory to pass, and just smiled. “You asked me to.”

\-----

They met several times after that. Tony would always swing by at the most convenient of times—when she ran out of food to eat for the week, or when she needed a ride to the grocery store. Each time, Tony seemed more and more agitated, looking a little disheveled. But she mostly kept her mouth shut about her observations, and just assumed that he was going through a breakthrough in research.

“I have big plans, Peanut. Big Plans. I plan to change the world.” He saw her suspicious expression and clarified, “For the better. I’m going to fix my mistakes.”

If it had been any other day, she would have laughed at his face. The Tony she knew was a dreamer, but a selfish one at that. He had never done anything that didn’t revolve around him and now he wanted to change the world? She didn’t even know if he read the news!

But, she wondered, did she really know Tony as well as she thought she did? His whole life had been publicized throughout the world, from his first kiss to his first Ph.D, and there wasn’t a person in sight who didn’t recognize the heir of Stark Industries.

But she only knew him personally for a couple of months.

And she now knew how easily a picture could be manipulated.

“I believe you.”

“You believe me?” Tony looked surprised then, but she supposed she looked the same.  It did just come out of nowhere, but now that she said it, she could feel how _right_ it felt.

Yes. She did believe him.

The smile Tony gave her was brighter than the sun. She suddenly felt shy, and busied herself with her utensils while steadfastly avoiding his gaze.

“So, “she eventually said loudly, trying to get Tony to stop staring at her, “how’s your research been doing?”

“Research? What research?”

She looked up, shyness momentarily forgotten. Tony looked confused and she elaborated, “Aren’t you working on something? You’ve been…” she gestured at his messy hair and the dark circles tattooed under his eyes, “like this for a while now—figured you weren’t sleeping.”

“I’m working on a project,” Tony said, almost a bit too quickly.

Interested, she asked, “What type of research?” She missed the wince Tony gave, as it was quickly masked with a look of indifference.

“Just a hobby,” Tony said, “A computer program.”

She frowned, at the vagueness. Maybe he was making something for Stark Industries again. “Is it for your dad?”

Before Tony could retort, a shadow fell on their table. “Are you giving out company secrets, Tony?”

She glanced up and recognized Obie Stane.  She remembered seeing his face in the newspapers once in a while, usually standing directly next to Mr. Stark whenever there were any news conferences from Stark Industries. Tony loved talking about the man, complaining how Obie never let him do anything fun. She knew the complaints didn’t mean much though, because she could hear how fond Tony was for man. And besides, Tony always complained about things he liked.

“Stane,” Tony said, voice clipped.

“Hello Tony.” Obie said, smiling gently at them. “Aren’t you going to introduce your friend to me?”

Tony paused for a long time, before gritting out, “This is Obadiah Stane. He is a business partner of  Howard.”

“Pleasure,” Obadiah said, shaking her hand.

She smiled back and said, “Hello sir, I thought your name was Obie until recently.”

Mr. Stane laughed heartedly, before clapping Tony on the back hard. That gave her a pause. Tony didn’t like to be touched. Shouldn’t a man Tony held in such high regard know that about him? “Tony here likes to give out nicknames, don’t you Tony? He used to call me that when he was just a little boy!”

She chuckled politely, but by now she could feel that there was some tension between the two men. Tony didn’t look too happy at Mr. Stane’s arrival, which again seemed so differently from what Tony thought of the man just a couple of months ago.

“What are you doing here?” Tony asked, putting his utensils down quietly. He had been silent during her exchange with Mr. Stane, and that made her wary.

Although Tony complained loud and proud about the things he liked, he was usually silent when it came to things he hated.

And sometime between the last few months, something had happened to make Tony dislike Mr. Stane.

It was, yet another difference between the Tony she knew before and the Tony she knew know.

A conclusion was forming into her head right then and there. The data she had absorbed had been fitting into a puzzle inside her head until a picture was forming. The signs were there from the beginning and it was only know did she realize what it meant.

This Tony in front of her now, the Tony that didn’t flirt with pretty women, that looked at her when he thought she wasn’t paying attention, that knew how she took her coffee, that hated Obadiah Stane—that Tony was an _imposter._


	3. In which Advice is Given and Taken

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone who subscribed and left Kudos. Sorry for the late update!

Tony was a mystery wrapped in an enigma wrapped in tight skinny jeans. She didn’t even know how he got his jeans that tight—it wasn’t as if it was in style right now. Not that she checked or anything. And she was definitely not looking for similar jeans to gift Tony for the upcoming holidays. Nope.

In any case, it didn’t matter what she got him because she wasn’t entirely convinced that Tony was—well—Tony. It made sense, in retrospect. She was just surprised that she didn’t see it before.  But then again, she doubted that many people were in situations where their TA-slash-heir to a billion dollar company started paying a strange amount of attention on them.

Well—it wasn’t as if Tony _thought of her as a friend_ or anything. She scoffed, crossing her arms. No—it was more probable to think that Tony was not Tony then to believe that Tony actually had _feelings_ for her.

This mystery was bugging the heck out of her. But how was she going to figure this out without Tony getting suspicious about her sudden strange behavior?

“My dad pays you to teach me, you know.”

She uncrossed her arms and smiled sheepishly at Daniel who was frowning at her from his desk. They were in his room, in the middle of a tutoring session on a Saturday afternoon. The door to the room was open widely at the insistence of Daniel’s dad, saying something about protecting his child’s innocence or something.

“Sorry kid,” she said, propelling herself closer to his desk on her swivel chair. “Got a bit lost in my thoughts.”

Daniel shoved his finished homework at her and leaned back on his chair. He shot her a mischievous grin, “What were you thinking about? Your boyfriend?”

She sputtered, “Tony is NOT my boyfriend.”  Putting Tony and romantic relationships in the same mindset was so unnatural that her brain protested.

Daniel’s grin widened, “So you do have a guy in your life!”

She fell right into that one. She didn’t respond and instead gave him what she thought was a disapproving glare.

“You look constipated.”

She had to work on that. Frowning, she changed the subject, “You got this problem wrong Dan-Dan.”

Daniel groaned at the nickname, just like she knew he would. He took the paper back, muttering under his breath, “I don’t even like Dan-Dan noodles.”

Crisis avoided, she signed and leaned back against her chair as well. She tried to organize her plans for the day, but Daniel’s words kept bugging her. Before her mind could go down a spiral of panic she really wanted to avoid, she blurted out, “What did you mean earlier?”

“About your-not-boyfriend?” She nodded. Daniel rolled his eyes, in typical teenage manner, “You have to be more specific.”

“What did you think he was my boyfriend?”

Daniel snorted. “You always talk about him.” He put his pen down and fluttered his eyelashes in a horrible impression. “‘Tony is a genius. His project is outstanding. I want to suck his c—‘”

“DANIEL!” she shouted, scandalized. Before anyone could retort, the door to Daniel’s room swung open revealing Mr. Sung doused in flour and with a sour expression on his face.

“I heard you shout. Did my son—” Mr. Sung pulled out a rolling pin from one of apron pockets and smacked it against his palm. Daniel’s face drained of color. “—fail his test yesterday?”

Rushing to Daniel’s aid, she denied, “NO! Mr. Sung. Daniel did great! Isn’t that right Daniel?” She elbowed the kid and hissed, “Show your dad your last quiz grade!”

“Yeah- look dad! I got a 94%” Daniel handed over his quiz to his dad. Mr. Sung was silent as he stared at the paper in suspicion. Both she and Daniel looked at each other in worry.

“Hmm—acceptable,” Mr. Sung eventually said. “But why did you yell before?”

“Well. She was talking about her—” She shot Daniel a look that promised pain. “Er... I mean, I didn’t do this problem right?”

Mr. Sung squinted his eyes, looking at his son and then back at her in suspicion. After a moment’s pause, he nodded, “Good. Yell at him some more. Yelling makes learning go faster.”

Mr. Sung left without another word. They both watched him go, making sure he was out of earshot before she turned back to Daniel. “Your dad is scary.”

Daniel sighed, “Tell me about it.” He crumpled up his work page and laid his head on his arms. “Sometimes I feel like he only cares about my grades and not me.”

She pushed her chair closer to Daniel, “Hey. I know that your dad loves you very much.” At Daniel’s sour face, she elaborated, “He just wants you happy.”

“But what if this—” Daniel gestured to his homework scattered around, “What if going to a good college doesn’t make me happy? All he cares about is me getting good grades. But I don’t _care_ about that. I don’t want to study my life away.” He looked up at her. “I want to save people. Make a difference, you know?”

 She paused, choosing her words carefully, “Does your dad know about this?”

Daniel deflated. “No.”

“Did—” she asked again, “Did you _tell_ him?”

Daniel placed his head back down, “No.”

“I think that’s where the problem lies, kid. Your dad isn’t a super hero. He won’t know until you talk to him about it.”

“You think he’s going to listen?”

“I don’t know,” she said bluntly. “But you won’t get your voice out unless you try—” Well damn. She should start taking her own advice.

Daniel went quiet. She couldn’t tell what he was thinking because she couldn’t’ see his face. Eventually he pushed himself straight and said, “Yeah—I think I will do that.” He smiled shakily, “Thanks, Teach.”

“No problem, Dan-Dan,” she smiled and reached out to ruffle his hair. He yelped. “But before you talk to your dad, can you promise me something?”

“What?”

“Stop with the smoking. It’s not good for you and I doubt you’ll convince your dad that you are a mature adult if you face him smelling like a furnace.”

“Smoking?” Daniel asked too casually.

She rolled her eyes at his attempt, “I’m not an idiot. I can smell the cigarette smoke coming from you. And your clothes always look charred.” She pointed to the burns on his sweater sleeves. “Looking at these bad boys, it doesn’t look like your even any _good_ at smoking.”

“Right—” Daniel said, stuffing his hands in his pockets.  

“Hey, I’m being serious here. There’s been news—some stupid vigilante has been going around beating people up.” She saw the headline this morning. A ring of drug smugglers was left tied together in front of the steps of the New York Police department with a single manila folder that held incriminating evidence that led the criminals behind bars. “Your dad and I don’t want anything bad happening to you.”

“Alright, alright,” Daniel said, looking petulant.

Satisfied that she’d done her duty, she returned to the problem at hand. Daniel’s exam was this Friday, and she had her work cut out for her.  There were more important things to think about then unrealistic fascinations like superheroes.

\-----

The first course of action, she decided, was to gather more data.  Which was how she found herself standing outside the gates of Tony Stark’s mansion, feeling quite lost at the fact that there was a large, imposing gate blocking her—or anyone—from entering. She had stood there for a few awkward moments, unsure if she was supposed to knock on the metal gates or shout until someone noticed her, before Stark’s butler took pity and opened the gates from somewhere within the house.

“Young Master Stark is in his lab Miss,” Stark’s butler explained as she awkwardly followed him down the halls. His smooth English accent really did nothing to ease her nervous state—she’d never met an English butler before. She didn’t even know that Tony _had_ a butler—although in retrospect it seemed obvious. With the money they had—why not hire someone to open doors for them?

“Wait—Tony has a lab? In his own house?” They turned a corner and came upon a room that was without a doubt an actual state-of-the art lab. Her jaw dropped in awe as her feet propelled her inside. “Is this—is that an SSD?” she practically stumbled into the hand, skidding to a stop where a small memory chip half disassembled was placed on the table. Her hands shook as she reached over to pick it up, only for her common sense to gain control. She pulled her limbs back quickly, and instead just stared.

“Oh hello. Nice to see you again—really I can completely feel that you missed me—” Tony drawled behind her, sounding completely sarcastic. She turned around to greet him sheepishly, but Tony shook his head, “Oh don’t stop on my part. You ogling that tech is making me _feel_ things-if you know what I mean.”

“Dirty things” he clarified, coming loser. Before he could clarify further, she spoke, “How did you get your hands on this? It’s not slated to come out until 2 years!” She trailed off as she noticed Tony more clearly. “What happened to your arm?”

If Tony wasn’t in the arm sling, he probably would have waved his arms like usual. “It’s nothing—just some trouble in the lab.”

Abandoning the tech, she fretted over Tony’s injury, “Tony, you need to be more careful.” Her fingers trailed carefully over his arm.

“Worried about me, Peanut?” There was a teasing lit to his voice. She couldn’t help but blush and took a step back.

“Ah—well—what were you doing to get hurt like that?” she stammered, turning away. Tony, damn the man, merely moved closer, placing himself in her field of vision. “Did you get it treated?”

“Yep.”

She raised an eyebrow,” Properly?”

Tony shrugged sheepishly, “Nope.” He grinned, “Why should I go to a stuck up doctor when I have a sexy young one in front of me?”

“Not a doctor, Tony,” she said, trying to stop an amused grin from forming.

“Not yet—” he said, waving his hand. “It’s only a matter of time.”

A warm feeling bloomed in her chest as she stared at her friend.  His confidence in her abilities caused her to catch her breath in surprise and she swallowed a lump of pure emotion.

“I—don’t know what to say,” she shyly replied. She didn’t know how to voice her feelings. She had been so stressed these last few months, between getting forced out of school and living from paycheck to paycheck. She had tried to be so strong but it was _difficult._ The little voice in her head—the one that told her she would never meet her dream or that she would never get out of this financial hole she found herself in—echoed in her every night. But Tony—he spoke of her dream as an inevitability rather than an unsure possibility.

She felt a rush of gratefulness. She didn’t realize how much she needed someone to tell her she was capable.

“Tony—”

“I know, Peanut,” Tony just said, smiling at her with twinkling eyes. “You don’t have to say a word.”


End file.
